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After weeks of debate, NASA rules out bringing astronauts home on Boeing’s Starliner
After weeks of debate, NASA has ruled out bringing two astronauts back to Earth aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule because of lingering concerns about multiple helium leaks and degraded thrusters, both critical to a successful re-entry, officials said Saturday.
Despite successful tests of the Starliner’s maneuvering thrusters, detailed analyses and confirmation the known propulsion system helium leaks are stable and have not worsened, NASA concluded there is no way to prove the systems will continue to operate normally, ensuring a safe de-orbit, re-entry and landing.
NASA
The decision means two of four “Crew 9” astronauts scheduled for launch to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon on Sept. 24 will give up their seats so Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams can come home in their place next February.
“NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew 9 next February and that Starliner will return uncrewed. I want you to know that Boeing has worked very hard with NASA to get the necessary data to make this decision,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. “The decision to bring the Starliner home uncrewed is a commitment to safety.”
Launched June 5, Wilmore and Williams, both veteran test pilots making their third visit to the space station, originally expected to spend a little more than a week at the lab in the Starliner’s first piloted test flight.
They will now spend at least 262 days in orbit — nearly nine months — before returning to Earth around Feb. 22 with the two Crew 9 fliers, who will log a normal six-month tour of duty.
In the process, Wilmore and Williams will become the first astronauts in history to fly in space aboard four different spacecraft: NASA’s space shuttle, Russia’s Soyuz, Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
The Starliner was launched with a known helium leak in the ship’s propulsion system. During rendezvous with the space station, four more leaks developed and five maneuvering thrusters exhibited degraded thrust.
NASA
NASA and Boeing spent the next two-and-a-half months carrying out tests and analyses to determine if the ship could be counted on to safely bring Wilmore and Williams home.
Boeing managers insisted the problems were understood and that NASA could, in fact, count on it to bring the crew members back to Earth. But in the end, NASA managers, reflecting a post-Columbia approach to risk management, decided to play it safe, nixing plans for a piloted Starliner re-entry.
The hard-luck Starliner now will be commanded to undock from the space station’s forward port as early as Sept. 6 to carry out an unpiloted re-entry and touchdown at White Sands, New Mexico, bringing the long-awaited test flight to a disappointing conclusion, the latest in a series of major setbacks for Boeing.
With the Starliner’s departure, only the four-seat Crew 8 capsule, which arrived at the lab last March, will be available to serve as a lifeboat if an emergency forces its four-member crew, along with Wilmore and Williams, to evacuate before the Crew 9 ferry ship arrives.
While the odds of an evacuation are remote, SpaceX will work with NASA and the station crew to rig makeshift seats in the Crew 8 Dragon before the Starliner’s undocking to accommodate Wilmore and Williams in an emergency.
Once the Crew 9 capsule docks, the four outgoing Crew 8 fliers, wrapping up their own six-month expedition, will reconfigure their ship for a normal undocking and return to Earth around Oct. 1 as planned. Wilmore and Williams will remain behind aboard the station with the two Crew 9 fliers launching Sept. 24.
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Former President Donald Trump regularly criticizes President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over what inflation is costing families, citing one figure in particular.
At a Las Vegas rally on Sept. 13, Trump blamed Harris for causing “the worst inflation in American history, costing us and the typical family $28,000.” He also highlighted the $28,000 figure at recent rallies in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Under President Biden, year-over-year inflation — or the pace of price increases — peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, the highest monthly figure in about 40 years, but it has since cooled considerably. In August, inflation hit a three-year low of 2.5%.
Lower inflation means the rate of price increases has slowed, but not that prices themselves have decreased. CBS News’ price tracker shows the cost of everyday household expenses remain higher compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Economists told CBS News that Trump’s $28,000 figure is largely correct. Citing the figure on its own, however, ignores the crucial context that inflation led to income growth, not just price hikes. Data indicates that over the last three and a half years, many Americans have seen a net positive increase in their finances.
Where the $28,000 figure comes from
The estimate that inflation has cost the typical American household $28,000 since Mr. Biden took office is consistent with an inflation tracker from Republicans on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.
The tracker is based on government data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis of state-level personal consumption expenditures — one measure of spending on goods and services.
The study tracked monthly costs for the average American household in each state since January 2021. From that point through July 2024, the average cumulative increase in household costs among all 50 states and Washington, D.C., was $27,950, due to inflation. In an update for August 2024, the increase rose to around $29,000.
Economists told CBS News the estimate for the total increase in household costs in the last three and a half years is likely in the correct range. Experts generally agree that household costs have increased since January 2021, although the precise number differs depending on the specific metrics used.
Comparing price increases under Trump and Biden
The Republicans on the Joint Economic Committee told CBS News they did not do a similar analysis of how household costs changed under Trump’s administration.
Government data shows prices also grew under Trump, but by much less. The Consumer Price Index for all items increased by around 8% over Trump’s four years in office. By comparison, the total increase in consumer prices thus far under Biden is around 20%.
Of course, the two faced markedly different economic circumstances during their time in the White House.
While Trump’s administration enjoyed low inflation and healthy job growth for much of his time in office, the pandemic leveled the economy toward the end of his term. Early in the Biden administration, inflation reached modern highs as the economy recovered from employment and global supply chain disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many other countries around the world also saw high inflation due to the pandemic — in some cases far higher than the U.S.
The Federal Reserve believes keeping inflation at a low, stable rate of around 2% year-over-year is best for a well functioning economy where people and businesses can plan financially. It’s typical for prices to grow throughout a presidential term. A reduction in prices, or deflation, is generally not thought of as desirable by economists, and price increases are considered a feature of a healthy economy.
How incomes have fared under Biden
Economists say price increases should be compared to income increases to fully understand how inflation is affecting people’s finances.
Mark Zandi of the independent Moody’s Analytics told CBS News that due to inflation, the median American household spent $905 more in August 2024 to purchase the same goods and services than they did in August 2021. However, the median household made $1,073 more in August 2024 than it did three years ago.
Cumulatively, the Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee told CBS News that their calculations show the average family earned $35,390 in additional wages and salaries between the start of Mr. Biden’s term and July 2024 — a figure that’s more than $7,000 greater than the total increase in household costs over that time period estimated by the committee’s Republicans.
As of last year, Americans’ incomes had rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census, in 2023, median household income rose a healthy 4%, to $80,610, on par with earnings in 2019 on an inflation-adjusted basis.
Another way to measure the financial health of Americans is to look at government data on real disposable personal income, which reflects after-tax income adjusted for inflation. This income figure includes not only wages and salaries but also income from investments and government subsidies.
Disposable personal income has been higher on average during Mr. Biden’s term than it was in December 2020, Trump’s last full month in office. According to Gary Burtless, an economist and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, real disposable personal income per person has been above $49,407 — where it was in December 2020 — for 30 of the 43 months of Mr. Biden’s term so far.
“Given that Americans’ actual real incomes have increased over the course of the Biden administration, it’s a little hard to see the basis for claiming that ‘inflation under Biden has cost the typical U.S. family $28,000,'” Burtless said.
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